Definition of nonrenewable
: not able to be renewed : not renewable
- a nonrenewable service contract
- … most of the natural resources that we exploit for energy and minerals are nonrenewable. Once they have been used up, they cannot be replenished—at least in our lifetime.
- —Sheldon Judson and Marvin E. Kauffman
- A nonrenewable resource is a resource that cannot be replaced after it is used. Minerals and many fuels are nonrenewable resources.
- —Dr. Timothy Cooney et al.
- Physical and economic shortages of nonrenewable resources require research programs aimed at developing renewable replacement resources.
- —Predicasts Technology Update
- Lubbock is the principal city of the semi-arid southern High Plains of Texas, where the extensive, nonrenewable Ogallala aquifer is the major water resource.
- —AAG Abstracts
